Free summaries
Humour — page 13
632 public-domain humour books, summarised. Page 13 of 14.
New Hire
Dave Dryfoos
The day a man turns forty, he must trade his life of leisure for the drudgery of a desk job. It is a transition defined by ritual, heavy with the weight of society’s expectations, and finalized by a dark, clinical necessity.
The Country School: An Entertainment in Two Scenes
Martha Russell Orne
A nostalgic and rowdy stage play, this script invites local citizens to step back into the classroom of their youth, trading their current dignity for the antics and misadventures of a classic country school.
The Sweet Girl Graduates: A Farce in Three Acts and an Epilogue
H. Rea (Hannah Rea) Woodman
The stresses of high school graduation in 1902 prove far more volatile than the ceremony itself, as a young woman’s quest for the perfect dress threatens to dismantle her family’s domestic peace.
Captain Cranberry
Gladys Ruth Bridgham
A mysterious drifter and a missing set of tobacco pipes bring chaos to a quiet coastal town, forcing a reclusive lighthouse keeper to confront a long-buried secret about his past.
Mimsy's Joke
Millard Grimes
HOOK Humanity’s first expedition to Mars discovers that Earth’s oldest, most loyal companions are actually the architects of a silent, ancient, and thoroughly successful invasion of our planet.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, November 19, 1892
Various
This issue of a venerable satirical magazine captures the frantic, witty, and opinionated pulse of late-Victorian London. It serves as a time capsule, preserving the cultural anxieties and social rituals of 1892 through humor, caricature, and verse.
Community Property
Alfred Coppel
A desperate lawyer attempts to revolutionize his career by representing extraterrestrial clients in a divorce, only to find that legal loopholes are as fragile as the morals of his peers.
The Council of Dogs
Anonymous
A gathering of dogs meets on an open plain to air their grievances and demand the recognition they believe they are owed by the poets of the day.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, September 20, 1890
Various
A spirited collection of nineteenth-century commentary, this compilation captures the Victorian era’s shifting landscapes through sharp, satirical wit and observational charm.
Frictional Electricity: From "The Saturday Evening Post."
Charles Heber Clark
This short story follows a battered plumber who recounts his recent string of misfortunes, all originating from a misguided attempt to use pseudoscience to impress a girl. It is a comedic study of human ego and the chaotic chain reaction of small, foolish decisions.
The spirit of Toffee
Henry Farrell
A weary advertising man finds his domestic and financial failures compounded by the sudden, unwanted return of his own personal ghost. This surreal entanglement forces him into a frantic, city-wide chase that defies all logic.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 109, August 10, 1895
Various
This volume is a quintessential specimen of late-Victorian culture, capturing the peculiar intersection of high-minded political discourse, absurdist wit, and the restless, globe-trotting anxiety of the 1890s.
Punch, or the London Charivari. Volume 93, September 10, 1887
Various
A satirical window into late-Victorian Britain, blending absurd theatrical farce, political bickering, and seaside holiday mishaps through the pages of a classic humor magazine.
"Quite wild animals"
Beatrice Curtis Brown
In a strange landscape populated by eccentric creatures with absurd habits, everyday oddities become a charming way of life.
Step Lively! A Carload of the Funniest Yarns that Ever Crossed the Footlights
George Niblo
A breezy vaudeville collection of witty yarns, eccentric local characters, and sharp stage banter offers a vivid snapshot of turn-of-the-century American humor.
Pirates: A comedy in one act
Colin Clements
In a quiet English parlor, an afternoon visit unravels into a chaotic web of small-town rumors when a harmless stroll with a married doctor is mistaken for a scandalous elopement.
Point Lace and Diamonds
George Augustus Baker
HOOK This collection of light verse captures the glittering, hollow, and fiercely social world of New York’s late 19th-century elite.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, September 5, 1891
Various
Late-Victorian wit comes alive through sharp travel sketches, biting social satire, and humorous verse that lampoon the absurdities of daily life.
The catspaw of Piperock
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
An uproarious Christmas night in a Montana frontier town descends into total chaos when a raffle for a brand-new automobile ignites a chaotic holiday pageant involving rival townsfolk, a temperamental camel, and a stampeding steer.
The Naughty Man
Frank Chapman Bliss
An octogenarian millionaire shocks Gotham society by marrying a blooming widow, outwitting his fortune-hunting heirs through legal mastery and a magnanimous will.
You can't scare me!
Henry Farrell
Toffee helps Marc Pillsworth escape his subconscious mind when his advertising agency, jealous wife, and a murderous former secretary turn his reality upside down.
Breaking a Spell: Odd Craft, Part 6
W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs
A gullible villager seeks a witch's help to lift a string of petty misfortunes, unleashing a wave of foolishness across his village.
The Shining Cow
Alex James
An ordinary farm cow is irradiated by a mysterious flying saucer, glowing like a living light bulb and setting off a chaotic scientific and military investigation on a quiet rural property.
Tricks of the trade
Squire, John Collings, Sir
Contemporaries mocked through pitch-perfect mimicry reveal the absurdities inherent in early twentieth-century literary conventions and poetic styles.
The Aggravation of Elmer
Robert Arthur
The world would beat a path to Elmer’s door—but he had to go carry the door along with him! This story explores the perils of underestimating a child whose intellect outpaces the gravity of his surroundings.
Big Stupe
Charles V. De Vet
The arrogance of a self-proclaimed expert meets the subtle, alien reality of a distant planet, leading to a conclusion that proves how little he actually understands. This narrative explores the dangerous gap between human perception and truth.
Eva's apples
William Alexander Gerhardie
The world is a farce, and the end is coming; but for those who know how to live, there is always time to fall in love, buy a hat, and argue about the meaning of existence.
Taking the Census: A Farce
Elizabeth F. (Elizabeth Frances) Guptill
A census taker’s routine visit to a private home descends into delightful chaos as a resourceful mother uses wit and feigned misunderstanding to baffle her persistent guest.
The shotgun princess
William Merriam Rouse
Johnny Trumbull has arrived in the Adirondacks, but to win the hand of the woman he loves, he must first defeat her brother’s stubborn, weaponized appetite. A double-barreled shotgun is the only thing standing between him and a future with the local prize-winning cook.
Minor Detail
Jack Sharkey
A military officer bets his career on a bizarre training method to revolutionize modern warfare, only to discover that the laws of physics are not mere suggestions.
Light interviews with shades
Robert Webster Jones
The afterlife is a bustling, opinionated place where history’s most infamous figures are finally given the chance to tell their side of the story.
Pangborn's paradox
David Mason
The classic time-travel trope of killing one’s own ancestor is put to a reckless, fatal test by a brash physicist. What follows is a witty exploration of causality that questions whether the future can ever truly erase its own roots.
A Man-Sized Pet
W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle
A deceptively small gray kitten becomes the unlikely arbiter of power in a remote mining camp, upending the egos of three self-proclaimed tough men. This lighthearted Western tale explores the fragility of bravado when confronted with the unexpected.
Please pass the cream: A comedy
Charles Nevers Holmes
A morning breakfast table becomes a battleground where grammatical disputes and social pretenses escalate into a hilarious domestic crisis. This short comedy captures the absurdity of a marriage held together by rigid expectations and constant correction.
The Moralist
Jack Taylor
In the solitude of a distant, untamed world, a group of scientists turn a simple, itchy biological nuisance into a weapon of bureaucratic warfare.
Alice's blighted profession
Helen C. Clifford
A young woman attempting to establish a law practice in New York City finds her professional ambitions hijacked by an elaborate practical joke orchestrated by her society friends.
Good Stories Reprinted from the Ladies' Home Journal of Philadelphia
Various
The traveler who searches for a quick laugh in the dusty corners of a parlor will find a familiar companion in these pages. This collection captures the sharp, fleeting wit of a bygone era.
Toffee turns the trick
Henry Farrell
The fixage pills caused a major change in Marc's life--they not only made him a babe in arms--but Toffee's to boot! This frantic, whimsical tale explores the volatile intersection of a man’s subconscious desires and the chaos of the waking world.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Vol. 3, No. 32, April, 1922
Various
This archival artifact serves as a boisterous, unfiltered time capsule of American humor, capturing the irreverent spirit of 1922 through a collage of jokes, tall tales, and period-specific slang.
Punch, or The London Charivari, Vol. 62, January 20, 1872
Various
A sharp-witted snapshot of Victorian life, this collection captures the exasperations, social absurdities, and political anxieties of early 1872 with biting humor and enduring irony.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, July 25, 1891
Various
This volume captures the restless, satirical spirit of Victorian London, blending sharp political lampooning with the trivial, often absurd, social preoccupations of the summer of 1891.
Splores of a Halloween, Twenty Years Ago
Alexander Dick
A gang of raucous Scottish youths turns a small town upside down with a relentless barrage of Halloween pranks.
Say it with bricks/Say it with oil
Ring Lardner
This clever, back-to-back volume pairs a wife’s witty list of marital grievances against her husband with a husband’s dry, retaliatory defense of his own kind.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 449: Volume 18, New Series, August 7, 1852
Various
A curious collection of mid-Victorian thought, this periodical blends imaginative fiction, scientific curiosity, and practical advice to reflect the diverse intellectual appetite of its era.
Martian V.F.W
G. L. Vandenburg
A New York parade becomes the setting for an impossible encounter when a group of six-foot-tall, multicolored ants arrives to march. What appears to be a brilliant piece of performance art conceals a devastating invasion.
Hoiman and the Solar Circuit
G. Gordon (George Gordon) Dewey
This tale follows a down-and-out wrestling promoter recounting his disastrous interstellar career. It is a witty, cynical portrait of a man who mistakes his own desperate schemes for professional ambition.
Teething Ring
James Causey
This science fiction tale explores the mundane collision between domestic life and advanced extraterrestrial technology. It examines the consequences of an accidental encounter that leaves a profound, secret mark on a suburban household.
The cynic's rules of conduct
Field, Chester, Jr.
The art of living well is often a matter of knowing precisely how to behave poorly. These brief, sardonic mandates offer a masterclass in the social maneuvering of a bygone era.